Washing device for combs and the like

ABSTRACT

An upright vessel with a rotating comb carrier rotatably mounted therein by coaxial bearing means connecting the opposite ends of the carrier with the removable lid of the vessel and its bottom. Interengageable slidingly separable connections between the rotary carrier and a plurality of combs enables the combs to be removably mounted on the carrier. A spray of cleaning liquid directed inwardly from the side wall of the vessel cleans the combs as the carrier rotates.

United States Patent [191 Saric [111 3,860,021 1 Jan. 14, 1975 WASHING DEVICE FOR COMBS AND THE LIKE [76] Inventor: Ivan M. Saric, 919 N. Glenview,

Wauwatosa, Wis. 53213 [22] Filed: July 19, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 380,719

[52] US. Cl 134/140, 15/39, 134/153, 134/158,134/198 [58] Field of Search B08b/13/00; 15/38, 39; l34/140,153,199,155,157,158,198

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,392,189 9/1921 Makie 15/39 1,405,243 1/1922 Wing 134/153 2,082,991 6/1937 Turco 15/39 2,715,408 8/1955 Stanitz et al. 2,994,329 8/1961 Catlin et a1. 1. 135/155 X Primary ExaminerEdward L. Roberts [57] ABSTRACT An upright vessel with a rotating comb carrier rotatably mounted therein by coaxial bearing means connecting the opposite ends of the carrier with the removable lid of the vessel and its bottom. lnterengageable slidingly separable connections between the rotary carrier and a plurality of combs enables the combs to be removably mounted on the carrier. A spray of cleaning liquid directed inwardly from the side wall of the vessel cleans the combs as the carrier rotates.

8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEU 1880.021

SHEET 10F 2 FIGJ.

PATENTEDJANWQYB I 3.860.021

SHE 2 UF 2 WASHING DEVICE FOR COMBS AND THE LIKE This invention relates to a comb washing and cleaning device capable of simultaneously cleaning a plurality of combs.

The invention has as its object the provision of a comb washing and cleaning device that is more practi' cal and in every respect an improvement over comb washing and cleaning devices heretofore available, examples of which will be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,082,991 and 2,524,214.

More specifically it is the purpose and object of this invention to provide an attractive, highly efficient comb washing and cleaning device by which a number of combs and similar articles can be simultaneously cleaned and sterilized.

With these observations and objectives in mind, the manner in which the invention achieves its purpose will be appreciated from the following description and the accompanying drawings, which exemplify the invention, it being understood that changes may be made in the specific apparatus disclosed herein without departing from the essentials of the invention set forth in the appended claims.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one complete example of an embodiment of the invention constructed according to the best mode so far devised for the practical application of the principles thereof and a modification of a part of the preferred embodiment, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view through the comb washing and cleaning device of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view through FIG. 1 on the plane of the line 2-2; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a modified embodiment of a major part of the device.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, the numeral 5 designates an upright vessel or jar that constitutes the body of the device. It has a base 6 and a side wall 7 that may be cylindrical, and in the illustrated embodiment of the invention is cylindrical. The open top of the jar or vessel is closed by a removable cap or lid 8.

A comb carrier 9 is mounted in the vessel to rotate about a fixed vertical axis defined by coaxial bearing means 10 and 11 which connect the upper and lower ends of the carrier respectively with the lid or cover 8 and with the base 6. This comb carrier, which may be molded of a plastic material, has a hollow central stem 12 with a cylindrical side wall 13 and upper and lower end walls 14 and 15 respectively. In that embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cylindrical side wall 13 is formed with a plurality of parallel circumferentially equispaced reentrant grooves 16 to receive the back edge portion 18 of the combs. The back edge portion of the combs has a generally T- shaped cross section to have a dove-tailed interengagement with the reentrant grooves. By that interengagement the combs are firmly held with their teeth projecting radially outward with respect to the axis of the carrier. To enable insertion of the back edge portions 18 of the combs into the reentrant grooves, the grooves are open at their upper ends but at the bottom they are closed by the lower end wall 15 of the carrier.

While the dove-tail formation of the interengaging connection between the combs and the carrier confines the use of the device to combs having the same shaped backedge, this is not objectionable and in fact can be regarded as an advantage since it provides a market for combs.

However, if desired the carrier can be equipped with comb grippers such as illustrated in FIG. 3 wherein each comb is held by two or more aligned spring clips 19 mounted on the carrier.

The carrier, loaded with combs, is insertable into and removable from the jar or vessel through its open top upon removal of the cap or lid 8, and is supported in its desired position by having its lower end wall 15 rest on a radially projecting flange 20 of a drive shaft 21 that extends upwardly from the base 6 of the vessel. When the carrier is in place the cap or lid 8 can be applied to the top of the vessel whereupon a cylindrical stem 22 that depends from the cap or lid projects into a hole in the upper end wall of the carrier to complete the bearing means 10. Obviously, of course, the reverse relationship could be employed, that is, a stem projecting up from the carrier could be journaled in a socket in the underside of the cap or lid.

The bearing means 11 at the bottom of the carrier comprises a combination thrust and radial bearing 23 rotatably mounting the drive shaft 21 in the base 6 of the device, and to drivingly connect the shaft with the carrier, the upper end portion of the shaft above its flange 20 is square or otherwise polygonal in cross section, and the hole in the bottom end wall 15 of the carrier into which it projects is correspondingly shaped.

The base 6 is provided with a gear compartment 24 that is sealed from the interior of the vessel and accommodates a train of gears comprising a drive pinion 25 on the shaft of a motor 26, a large diameter gear 27 meshing with the drive pinion and fixed to the drive shaft 21, and a smaller gear 28 fixed to the impeller shaft 29 ofa rotary pump 30 and meshing with the gear 27. The pump impeller shaft 29 is suitably journaled in the base 6, and the shaft of the motor extends up into the gear compartment from a cavity 31 formed in the underside of the base and in which the motor is located. Upon energization of the motor by the actuation of a suitable switch 32, relatively slow rotation is imparted to the comb carrier and the combs thereon while, at the same time, the impeller of the pump is driven at high speed.

An inlet port 33 in the bottom of the jar or vessel leads to the intake of the pump, and a duct 34 formed in the bottom wall of the jar or vessel connects the discharge port of the pump with an elongated passage 36 that extends vertically along the side wall of the vessel. A restricted slit 37 leads from the passage 36 and provides an elongated spray nozzle through which cleaning liquid circulated by the pump is projected as a spray to wards the axis of the device to impinge upon first one and then the other side of the combs as they are carried past the slit 37. A series of individual ports could, of course, be substituted for the slit. In either case, spray nozzle means would be provided.

In the interest of clarity, some details of construction as, for instance, the specific way in which the gear compartment is formed in the base of the device have been omitted from the drawings, but any such omissions will in nowise detract from the disclosure of the invention. Also, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention can be embodied in forms other than as herein disclosed for purposes of illustration.

The invention is defined by the following claims:

1. A comb washing device comprising:

A. a jar to contain a supply of cleaning liquid, said jar having an access opening in its top;

B. a rotatable comb carrier;

C. comb gripping means on the comb carrier, adapted to engage the back of combs and hold the same with their teeth projecting radially outward, said comb carrier with the plurality of combs thereon being readily insertable into and removable from the jar through its access opening;

D. a cover to close the access opening of the jar;

E. bearing means to'rotatably support the comb carrier in the jar; and

F. power driven drive means connectable with said comb carrier upon insertion thereof into the jar to impart rotation to the comb carrier.

2. The comb washing device of claim 1, wherein said bearing means is located on the cover and on the bottom of the jar.

3. The comb washing device of claim I, wherein said comb gripping means comprises undercut longitudinally extending grooves in the periphery of the comb carrier to receive complementarily shaped back edges of the combs.

4. The comb washing device of claim 1, further characterized by spray nozzle means on the side wall of the jar to direct liquid issuing therefrom against the combs as they pass; and pump means having an inlet port positioned to receive liquid from the interior of the jar and an outlet port connected with said spray nozzle means.

5. In combination:

A. a plurality of combs, each having a straight back edge that is T-shaped in cross section;

B. a rotatable carrier for said combs, said carrier having an axis and having a plurality of reentrant grooves opening to its outer surface,

said grooves being parallel to and angularly spaced about that axis, I the reentrant grooves and the T-shaped back edges of the combs being slidably interengageable, so that the combs can be readily mounted on and removed from the carrier; and C. a vessel containing a cleansing liquid and having means therein for rotatably and removably mounting said carrier in said vessel.

6. The structural combination of claim 5, wherein said vessel is an open-topped jar;

wherein a removable lid closes the open top of the and wherein the rotatable mounting for the carrier comprises coaxial bearing means connecting the opposite ends of the carrier with the lid and with the bottom of the jar.

7. The structural combination of claim 6, wherein said vessel has a recessed base and a gear compartment, and further characterized by:

an electric motor in the recessed base;

a gear train in the gear compartment including a pinion on the shaft of the electric motor;

a drive shaft projecting from one of the gears of the gear train and extending up into the vessel; and

a separable driving connection between said drive shaft and said carrier.

8. The structural combination of claim 7,.further characterized by:

a pump chamber in the base of the vessel communicated through inlet and outlet ports with the vessel interior;

a rotary impeller in said chamber; and

a driving connection between said impeller and one of the gears of the gear train. 

1. A comb washing device comprising: A. a jar to contain a supply of cleaning liquid, said jar having an access opening in its top; B. a rotatable comb carrier; C. comb gripping means on the comb cArrier, adapted to engage the back of combs and hold the same with their teeth projecting radially outward, said comb carrier with the plurality of combs thereon being readily insertable into and removable from the jar through its access opening; D. a cover to close the access opening of the jar; E. bearing means to rotatably support the comb carrier in the jar; and F. power driven drive means connectable with said comb carrier upon insertion thereof into the jar to impart rotation to the comb carrier.
 2. The comb washing device of claim 1, wherein said bearing means is located on the cover and on the bottom of the jar.
 3. The comb washing device of claim 1, wherein said comb gripping means comprises undercut longitudinally extending grooves in the periphery of the comb carrier to receive complementarily shaped back edges of the combs.
 4. The comb washing device of claim 1, further characterized by spray nozzle means on the side wall of the jar to direct liquid issuing therefrom against the combs as they pass; and pump means having an inlet port positioned to receive liquid from the interior of the jar and an outlet port connected with said spray nozzle means.
 5. In combination: A. a plurality of combs, each having a straight back edge that is T-shaped in cross section; B. a rotatable carrier for said combs, said carrier having an axis and having a plurality of reentrant grooves opening to its outer surface, said grooves being parallel to and angularly spaced about that axis, the reentrant grooves and the T-shaped back edges of the combs being slidably interengageable, so that the combs can be readily mounted on and removed from the carrier; and C. a vessel containing a cleansing liquid and having means therein for rotatably and removably mounting said carrier in said vessel.
 6. The structural combination of claim 5, wherein said vessel is an open-topped jar; wherein a removable lid closes the open top of the jar, and wherein the rotatable mounting for the carrier comprises coaxial bearing means connecting the opposite ends of the carrier with the lid and with the bottom of the jar.
 7. The structural combination of claim 6, wherein said vessel has a recessed base and a gear compartment, and further characterized by: an electric motor in the recessed base; a gear train in the gear compartment including a pinion on the shaft of the electric motor; a drive shaft projecting from one of the gears of the gear train and extending up into the vessel; and a separable driving connection between said drive shaft and said carrier.
 8. The structural combination of claim 7, further characterized by: a pump chamber in the base of the vessel communicated through inlet and outlet ports with the vessel interior; a rotary impeller in said chamber; and a driving connection between said impeller and one of the gears of the gear train. 